Charles stafford



(Application med man 1a,` 1898s. I No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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c. sTAFFoRD. DEVICE FOR CUNVERTING MOTION.

(Appuceiun med mr. 12, 1s9a.\. (No Model.) 2A SheetsSheet 2.

Qtneoow l l QG@UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES STAFFORD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO EDWARDSTAFFORD, OF SAME PLACE.

DEVICE FOR CONVERTING MOTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,141, dated November15, 1898. Appnmion ned March 12, 189s. semina. 673,651. Nomaden T allwhom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, CHARLES STAFFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the` county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for ConvertingMotion; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanical movements forconverting motion;

and the object is to provide a simple device of this character wherebythe movement of a car may be utilized'through the medium of my device tooperate the switch-points, switch-frogs, crossings, Crossovers, signals,safety-gates, and the numerous devices of a similar character employedon a modern railway system.

To this end the invention consists in the construction, combination, andarrangement of the device, as will be hereinafter more fully described,and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The accompanying drawings show my invention in the best form now knownto me; but many changes in the details might be made within the skill ofa good mechanic without departing from the spirit of my invention, asA

set forth in the claims at the end of this specification.

The same reference characters in the drawings indicate the same parts ofthe invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my irnproved mechanical movement,showing its application to a railway-track. Fig. 2 is a top plan view.Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line v3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is atransverse section on the line 4 4. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on theline 5 5. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through the center of theshaft.

1 denotes a rock-shaft formed with the integral journals 2 2,by means ofwhich it is mounted in suitable bearings, and in the present instancethese bearings are the brackets 4 and 5, iixed to the outside rail 6. Acrank-arm 7 is fixed to the outer end of said shaft, and

from this arm a rod 8 connects with a crank 9 on a vertical shaft 10,mounted in the semaphore or signal-lantern stand 12.

13 represents a grooved quadrant formed integral with the shaft 1 andconcentric with its axis, and 14 denotes a chain or llexible wire ropehaving one end iixed to the quadrant and at its other end connected to aspring-actuated lever a, fulcrumed on a bolt b midway between the rails,and from the opposite ends of said lever the rods c and d extend to thefrogs e and f, respectively, so as to simultaneously shift them when thelever a is operated.

The shaft 1 is formed with a radial flange 15, the central portion 16 ofwhich extends from the dotted line to the dotted line z, and betweenthese two points the outer edge of said flange lies in a plane parallelwith the axis or median line 17 of the shaft, and from the point a: tothe contiguous end of the shaft the flange 15 is spirally curved forabout onequarter of a circle, more or less, so as to form a continuationof the longitudinal iiange 15 to that end of the shaft. FromV the pointz the ange 152 is spirally curved in the reverse direction to the crankend of the shaft.

The inner plane longitudinal edge 18 of the flange 15 extends in anopposite direction beyond the axial line 17 of the shaft, and this edgeof the iange 18 isformed with an eye 19 to receive the outer end of therod 20, the inner end of which is pivoted to the switchfrog 21, the rod20 passing through a guidebracket 22, and 23 denotes a spiral springencompassing the rod 2O between said bracket and switch-frog, thetension of which is exerted to retain the shaft 1 in its normalposition, as shown in Fig. 1, so that when a car is approaching in thedirection of the arrow the tread of the wheel will ride over the spiralIiange 152 and rotate the shaft one-quarter of a turn on its axis untilthe wheel comes to the parallel flan ge 15, which holds the shaft inthisposition.

over the spiral ange 15' it allows the shaftV to resume its normalposition,- as above described.

It will be noted by reference to Fig. 5 that when the shaft 1 is in itsnormal position the Then as the wheel passes eye 19 of the flange is inline with the axis of the rod 20 and the axial line 17 of the shaft,sothat no amount of pressure applied to said rod in the direction of thearrow will change the position of the shaft. At the same time the leastmovement of the shaft on its axis will reciprocate the rodlongitudinally, and this feature is especially valuable where the innerend of the rod is connected to the switchfrog, as shown, as iteffectually locks the frog in that position, so as to prevent itsaccidental displacement or, in fact, any movement of said frog exceptwhen the shaft is operated by the car-wheels.

Of course it will be understood that the shaft is rotated on its axis bythe car-wheel, as hereinbefore described. The switch-rail and the signalare simultaneously operated at the same time as the switch-frog.

Vhile I have shown my device as applied to a railway signal andswitches, I do not Wish to conne myself to such use, as it is obviousthat it is adapted to a variety of other applications.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s-

l. A mechanical movement comprising as an element an axially-journaledshaft having a radial flange formed with a central plane sectionextendinglongitudinally parallel with the axis of said shaft andterminating in spirally-curved sections forming continuations of saidplane section, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A mechanical movement comprising as an element au axially-journaledshaft having a radial liange formed with a central plane sectionextendinglongitudinally parallel with the axis of said shaft andterminating in reversely-arranged spirally-curved sections formingcontinuations of said plane section, as and for the purpose setforth.

In testimony Whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing wit- CHARLES STAFFORD.

Vtitnesses:

RoBT. S. MARVIN, ROBERT KOEHN.

